Free Learning Strategies And Practices Essay Sample

Context

The primary objective of writing this memo is to bring you up to date on the importance of learning with the aim of fostering collaborative governance. Since I joined the program in the position of program coordinator, I have managed to achieve a lot that has helped in achieving the goals of International Rescue Committee (IRC). The position that the program offered me in the early days of January is the primary position that help in the coordination of the functioning of the program. As a program coordinator, I have been able to guide the committee on all important aspects and elements that will ensure that the program is run smoothly and achieves the targeted goals of its formation. Some of the goals that we have been able to achieve so far are: first, understanding the extent of collaborative partnership in the IRC and secondly, the topologies of collaborative governance. These two achievements have helped the committee and the employees who work with the program to understand more on the importance collaboration in any environment. The primary aim of this memo is to introduce yet another need that the program requires for its growth. Learning needs to be done since it is necessary for the program. The introduction of learning will guide all the employees in understanding the governance of the program.

Importance of learning

Learning has been defined by various authors depending on the context or environment in consideration. The central standard definition that I will to provide for easy understanding is the one given by Brown, Mary and Jeffrey (30-34). According to Brown, Mary and Jeffrey (30-34), learning is defined as the process of acquiring new or reinforcing and modifying the existing knowledge, skills behaviors, or preferences. Learning involves synthesizing and synchronizing skills and knowledge within the desired environment. For the case of collaborative governance, the term combines two fundamental concepts. These concepts are:
Collaborative: this concept is defined as the cooperation between various entities or individuals to achieve a particular common goal between them. The entities and individuals differ in boundaries and sectors, but they come together with the aim of achieving a common objective. In any environment, reciprocity is the value of cooperation since when there is no reciprocity then cooperation is not possible.
Governance: this is the process of steering the process that will assist in decision-making within a public, private or even in the civic sector. Governance is mostly associated with the government, but this is not the case even if the government plays a vital role in the governance function. The government is not the only player in the governance role since citizens have to be involved in making decision to make the process more inclusive.
When it comes to the governance of International Rescue Committee and the program under it, there is the importance of understanding the various roles that collaborative governance plays in making sure that the program runs smoothly. The importance of learning in collaborative governance is the crucial issue that will help the program to achieve its goals. The employees in our program, under us, will need to be taught so that they can be able to help in the governance of the program. The world is dynamic and every single day change is occurring within the management levels and also within other departments. Learning is one if the major ways that will help individuals be up to date with the changing times. Learning assists in collaborative governance in the following ways:
The involvement of the ordinary people in the decision-making process has brought out the need for learning. Collaborative governance involves the participation of all the stakeholders who have an interest in the sector or the program, and this also includes the employees. If the employees can know what is expected of them in the program, they will work hard and also provide suggestions and proposals that will help the committee in making rational decision.
The values present in the leadership of the program are essential to the program. If the management of the program has good morals and values, then this program and the committee will achieve the short and long term goals. The values that we gain through learning will raise the collaborative governance skills that will help in achieving the objectives of the program. Successful collaborative governance requires the presence of good values of dignity and respect. These values cannot be acquired freely, but the learning process can help in achieving the values.
Learning process helps in motivation, job satisfaction and stimulation of the employees and in turn the management can be able to lead them successfully. When the employees are happy within their work environment, the governance becomes easy for the committee since all workforces have been synchronized to work on achieving an individual target.
These are the primary importance of learning which will help the program to run smoothly and help us as the committee to the program to achieve the set objectives. It has come to my understanding that the program does not involve all the employees and the major stakeholders in the decision-making. This is bound to change from this day since I expect that we, as the committee, will allow the learning process to commence as soon as possible. According to schedule that I prepared when I occupied the seat of program coordinator, there are particular actions that need to be decided on but they face most the employees. Before this, I expect they would have learned more about the importance of collaborative governance and the goals of the program. This will be to our advantage as the committees since we will get diverse suggestions from them hence help us in making the right decisions.

Learning has the objective of creating a continuous learning environment through the use various tools and practices that encompasses the increase in the knowledge and individual development. Learning can take two distinct forms that will help the employees and also the management in learning. These forms are individual learning strategies and organizational learning strategies. The individual learning strategies are strategies that a person applies for personal gain. The policies are aimed at increasing skills for that one can remain marketable in the workplace. Organization learning strategies are strategies that an organization or firm can adopt to make sure that various problems that the organization is facing can be solved. The strategies do not only involve the solving of problems, but also promotes individual development through the gain of skills and knowledge. The best approach that the program will adopt, in this case, is the organizational strategies and practices since we need to develop the employees to ensure that collaborative governance is enforced.

Some of the strategies that I expect to be applied in the learning process are:

Action learning: in this strategy we will bring a group of employees to analyze a problem and develop a plan to solve the problem. The strategy is a continuous process, and the group is expected to implement the action, evaluate it and correct the errors that would not lead to achieving the desired results.
Cross-functional teams: The learning process involves bringing a group of people with varied skills and knowledge to accomplish a task. The group will include members who come from different departments or units.
Work-outs: this learning strategy will make use of all employees from different levels, except the management, to determine the best way the program will work efficiently and effectively.
These three learning strategies will help the employees as well as the committee to gain skills and knowledge to solving the problems that the program may encounter. The main obstacle that may face the implementation of these strategies is the cooperation of the employees and the stakeholders. This obstacle can be eliminated if the committee works together to emphasize the importance of the learning process. The strategies above will help in changing the management of the program, and this will lead to satisfaction from both the committee and the employees. Satisfaction means that they are encouraged to work to achieve the program's objectives. If only we can bring every stakeholder onboard, then the management of the program will be very successful. Working together and been on the same page means that we will all be working collaboratively to achieving set goals of the program.

Role of manager as leader

The role that I will play to enhance the learning process is mainly to provide guidance and leadership. My role as a leaders and a manager of the learning process is to monitor the learning process, as well as evaluation task. Monitoring and evaluation will ensure that the employees, committee members, and other stakeholders gain the necessary skills and knowledge that will help in improving the governance of the program. Since the primary aim of learning is to involve all the interested parties in the governance of the program, it will be my responsibility to ensure that this is achieved. The provision of resources required as well as participation in the learning process will encourage the employees to learn. My responsibility as the manager of the program is to set a good example to the rest of the people who will participate in the learning. Being in the front line is a quality that I should adopt so that every other person who is required to attend has the courage to do so. As the program coordinator, I will be tasked with the primary issue of collaboration from all the employees as well as the management. If both sides of the stakeholders can cooperate, my work will be easier. Despite these roles that are solely mine, the success of the learning process depends on all of us who are the primary stakeholders in this program.

Works Cited

Brown, Mary Maureen and Jeffrey L. Brudney. 2003. Learning Organisations in the Public Sectors: A Study of Police Agency Employing Information and Technology to Advance Knowledge. Public Administration Review 63(1): 30-43. Print
Edmundson, Amy C. 2011. Strategies for Learning from Failure. Harvard Business Review 89(4)(April 2011), 97-102. Print
Fedorowicz, Jane, Janis L. Gogan and Christine B. Williams. 2006. The E-Government's Collaboration Challenge: Lesson from Five Case Studies. Washington, DC: IBM Center for the Business of Government, 54-58. Print
Feldman, Martha S., Anne M. Khademian, Helen Ingram, and Anne S. Schneider. 2006. Ways of knowing and inclusive management practices. Public Administration Review 66 (S1), 89-99. Print
Wenger, E. C. 2000. Communities' of Practices and Social Learning System in Organization 7(2): 225-246. Print